Help needed in finding details of DC8 freighter incident
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 23
Likes: 1
From: Philippines and UK
The crew
Captain Berglund, F/O Martin Emery and Flight Engineer Terry Boone.
All these crew freelanced with us and I had the pleasure of a very liquid night in Marseilles when the whole incident was talked through by the Captain and Terry ( who could not stop laughing ..... perhaps nervously!) but most of the jokes were at Martin's expense, he had tears rolling down his cheeks as he described Matin taking pictures while adopting Berglund's full rudder full left aileron pose at the controls -
It later transpired that the aircraft had suffered a very, very heavy landing on a ferry flight from Manston to Southend at the hands of Capt J*e R*y that was neither reported nor checked.
The aircraft flew from Southend to Luxembourg and then loaded for Kano, the engines fell off at the first onset of turbulence.
The touchdown was at over 200 knots and despite possibly the longest runway in France they did go "off the end" - hardly surprising with that amount of momentum, but a brilliant feat of flying.
I cannot remember Captain Berglunds's first name (Ingmar?) but he attributed his survival to his basic flying training with the Swedish Airforce as a fighter pilot.
A very modest gent, he continued to fly for us for some time.
All these crew freelanced with us and I had the pleasure of a very liquid night in Marseilles when the whole incident was talked through by the Captain and Terry ( who could not stop laughing ..... perhaps nervously!) but most of the jokes were at Martin's expense, he had tears rolling down his cheeks as he described Matin taking pictures while adopting Berglund's full rudder full left aileron pose at the controls -
It later transpired that the aircraft had suffered a very, very heavy landing on a ferry flight from Manston to Southend at the hands of Capt J*e R*y that was neither reported nor checked.
The aircraft flew from Southend to Luxembourg and then loaded for Kano, the engines fell off at the first onset of turbulence.
The touchdown was at over 200 knots and despite possibly the longest runway in France they did go "off the end" - hardly surprising with that amount of momentum, but a brilliant feat of flying.
I cannot remember Captain Berglunds's first name (Ingmar?) but he attributed his survival to his basic flying training with the Swedish Airforce as a fighter pilot.
A very modest gent, he continued to fly for us for some time.
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,948
Likes: 1
From: Cloud 9
I knew Emery as a F/O back in the late 70's, early 80's. On the night when the clock were to go back would you believe he telephoned us during the night to ask if it was 2 or 3am yet so that he could put his clocks back and go to bed.
Yes, on the B707 incident, as I heard the story pretty much all they could get out of Emery was "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday" whilst the Captain would be hitting him around the head with a rolled up newspaper uttering something to the effect "They know we've got a f&+#ing problem, now try doing something useful" ... The rest of the crew exited the aircraft via the fwd door, Emery was out of that DV window and down the rope so fast he burned his hands on the rope
Yes, on the B707 incident, as I heard the story pretty much all they could get out of Emery was "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday" whilst the Captain would be hitting him around the head with a rolled up newspaper uttering something to the effect "They know we've got a f&+#ing problem, now try doing something useful" ... The rest of the crew exited the aircraft via the fwd door, Emery was out of that DV window and down the rope so fast he burned his hands on the rope
Joined: Jul 2025
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: London
Hi everyone,
My name is Max and I’m a researcher in London currently working on the early development of a documentary TV series for National Geographic, exploring extraordinary aviation incidents—one of which is TransAir Flight 671, the 1992 emergency landing after a catastrophic engine separation over the Alps discussed here.
I’ve been reading through this thread and just wanted to say how valuable and moving the recollections here have been. The humour, tension, and grit captured in these posts have added an incredible human element to what was already a remarkable story of airmanship and survival.
If anyone here has a connection with any of the crew—or has spoken with them over the years and would feel comfortable sharing further context—I would be incredibly grateful to speak, whether by phone or email. We’re trying to approach the story with as much care and authenticity as possible, and any help in better understanding what happened that day (and who these men were) would mean a great deal.
You can reach me directly at: [email protected]
Thanks in advance for any leads, memories, or even just your time.
My name is Max and I’m a researcher in London currently working on the early development of a documentary TV series for National Geographic, exploring extraordinary aviation incidents—one of which is TransAir Flight 671, the 1992 emergency landing after a catastrophic engine separation over the Alps discussed here.
I’ve been reading through this thread and just wanted to say how valuable and moving the recollections here have been. The humour, tension, and grit captured in these posts have added an incredible human element to what was already a remarkable story of airmanship and survival.
If anyone here has a connection with any of the crew—or has spoken with them over the years and would feel comfortable sharing further context—I would be incredibly grateful to speak, whether by phone or email. We’re trying to approach the story with as much care and authenticity as possible, and any help in better understanding what happened that day (and who these men were) would mean a great deal.
You can reach me directly at: [email protected]
Thanks in advance for any leads, memories, or even just your time.
